After 41 years peddling hot dogs in the same Times Square spot, Angelo Pipas is calling it a career.

"I like what I do. I'm my own boss. But now my kids are grown, so I can relax more," said the 57-year-old immigrant, who's leaving his cart behind to spend some well-earned downtime in his native Greece.

The doting dad has worked 10- to 12-hour days, sometimes seven days a week, "so my kids can have a better life."

Pipas' sacrifices were worth it - his daughter, Kathy, is a lawyer, and his son, Mike, is a Queens high-school history teacher - and they say he deserves to leave the dog-eat-dog business behind.

Blessed is this street vendor of the NYC holy dirty-water-hot-dog ... for without him, we'd GO HUNGRY from dawn until dusk until evening until night until dawn once again ... oh, and there is always the beloved Salty Pretzel too ....

Cute story. I used to dine on chili dogs and jamaican meat pies back when I worked in the financial district. Nice old lady had a cart near my building with fantastic chili dogs. I even considered getting my own cart. I really hated corporate work. Buncha losers.

Message to obamabots. See, nobody can stop you when you come here/live here looking for a better life, and doing what you can for yourself to make a better future for your kids. Living on welfare, food stamps, and section 8 just so you can put nike sneakers and designer clothes on your babies isn’t the path to success in the US. It perpetuate poverty, slavery and dependence. Dirty water hot dog guy got it, did it, and can now reap the benefit of a true retirement.....his childrens success!

5
posted on 02/17/2009 8:10:35 PM PST
by wombtotomb
(since its "above his paygrade", why can't we err on the side of caution about when life begins?)

There must be something about Greeks and hot dogs. There was a hole in the wall stand in Tulsa run by a bunch of Greeks. I ate there every day.

They were so good that I tried to duplicate them but never could. I did notice the wieners were Swift and the buns were bunny bread. I thing the secret was in the sauce which was called chili but really wasn’t it was a mild chili type sauce, also the onions were very mild.

I also noticed they grilled them right in front of the window. Started with maybe 50 and kept adding more as they sold. They kept the wieners rolling so when you got yours it had moved over most of the grill and was well done by the time you got it.

You gotta go back to Reagan to find a man who might be equal to this hot dog vendor. Reagan was a self-made man. Gifted, to be sure. But put his gifts to work the best he knew how. And he did so with grace, humility, and humor. He didn't get everything right, but who does? I believe he came from the right place, and he did accomplish a few things.

The Bushes are privelaged sons, which makes them damaged goods. It's the rich man's curse or something. They remind me of people I've met on Martha's Vinyard. Thank God I haven't been there in many years. And I think they were both failed presidencies.

Clinton was self-made, but it was all yuppie/boomer self-realization/actualization, devoid of any sense of duty or humilty. Obama reminds me of Clinton. He's the last of the boomers, but he shows all the usual traits--narcissism, irresponsibility, navel-gazing, and self righteousness.

Almost all politicians, it seems to me, exhibit an acute sense of entitlement. We sometimes call it elitism. Deep down, they don't respect themselves in the morning. They know they are slime. So they rationalize. And lash out.

This hot dog vendor did good honest work for years. He raised to successful children. He worked hard. He subjected himself to the marketplace. That's a noble life, in my opinion. Something most politicians don't know the first thing about.

There must be something about Greeks and hot dogs. There was a hole in the wall stand in Tulsa run by a bunch of Greeks. I ate there every day.

Same here when I was in college back in the 60s. A hole in the wall owned by Greeks -- two chili dogs and coffee for lunch every day. Only 75 cents. Good dogs too but after a couple of years off that diet, I swore off dogs for a long time.

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